Though lamenting in low tones and putting on brave faces, parents of some international schools across the major towns and cities in Kenya require quick and urgent help from the Ministry of Education (MoE) on what many terms unnecessary charges for their learners’ global tours.
A brave parent from one of the international schools in a significant city intimated to Education News’ digital platform how they are sweet-talked into paying for their learners’ foreign trips between KSh300,000 and KSh550,000 per learner.
Though optional, parents, especially the middle class, are sometimes forced to satisfy their children’s demands by resorting to loans or disposing of properties.
This platform learned that the school’s administration arranged for tours cum training to what they claim to be sister schools or colleges and engaged parents to endorse. Sometimes, the tours involve stopovers in volatile places, posing risks to the learners.
It is shocking that some of the learners who are enlisted for foreign tours far away have never visited the local tourist attractions in the country.
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It is emerging that the trend of what is mostly seen as unnecessary trips by some parents is widespread across many major private and international schools.
“One time, I had to sacrifice painfully for my son to go with his colleagues to train on the armoury side of the European clubs. Interestingly, my boy was made to watch his colleagues play until when they returned, andthat’ss how my sh 450,000 went,” said an emotional parent from Nairobi County.
The revelation of what mirrors the extortion of parents by the administration of such schools should attract the attention of the MoE.
It is prudent for the MoE to look into the matter and, if possible, regulate such kinds of foreign tours, which not only overburden parents but sometimes expose learners to security risks when stopovers are made in insecure countries.
By Naboth Murunga.
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